A winner and a Recipe

And the winner of the picnic pack giveaway is......

Jon used Random.org and chose:

Katie from
The Adventures of Katie and Josh!

Congratulations Katie!

Email me at steph_t2003@hotmail.com

1. Let me know what color you'd like out of these four:

Mint Chip, Yellow, Royal Blue and Red.

and

2. send me your address!

I'll get it in the mail first thing tomorrow morning!!

And now I leave you with a yummy summer dip recipe: (One I've posted before, but it's too good not to share and post again!)

Black Bean and Corn Dip

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 small chopped onion
1 can black beans drained
1 can corn drained.

Mix it all together and VOILA!
A GREAT summery dip. Soooooo tasty.

Jon and I made buffalo burgers last night, tortilla chips with this delish dip and of course homemade salsa.

We added some yummy spices into our burgers. I found a great recipe for Cumin burgers.

I told my dad that Jon and I were making cumin burgers for dinner and he fell silent for a moment, then said....

"Uh what??"
I said, "Cumin burgers dad."

He comes back with, "Oh I thought you said HUMAN burgers."

Silly Dad ;)

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Make this corn dip, you won't regret it! Or actually you might curse me later, because you won't be able to stop eating it ;)

See ya'll Monday!

A Couple of Favorites

Hello lovely friends! How was your Monday? Ours was pretty good. Jon had a softball game last night, but when we arrived it started raining cats and dogs. (Who was the smart individual that forgot to bring the umbrella??? oh, that's right, it was me.) Luckily they canceled the game shortly after it began pouring on us. Anyway, there is a game tonight and Wednesday is the first day of the tournament. If we win Wednesday we play again on Friday, and from there I have no idea what the schedule is like. Let's just say it's going to be a busy week for softball. Should be a good time, just as long as it stays dry.

Anyway.....

A BIG thank you for all of the wonderful comments concerning my photo shoot of Addie and family! You guys rock!! The shoot was a lot of fun. I very much enjoyed working with them and Addie was such a good baby. I really hope to continue taking family photographs and portraits in the future. The practice will help me learn a lot more, and in turn, teach me to become a better photographer. Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!

P.S. Don't forget to enter our Picnic Pack Giveaway. The last day to enter is on Friday. I'll be announcing the winner Friday afternoon.

Giveaways Galore!

Check out these great giveaways:

Gussy at Gussy has a lot to say is having a giveaway for her 100th Gussy sale.

Every comment that she receives she will take off 1 percent per comment. The total comments left at the end of the giveaway equals the percent off the winners order! How AWESOME is that!!

Also, check out this........

Mrs. Realife at The Reality of Happy Ever After is working with Living Rooms Direct to giveaway either a $30 gift card or an item equaling $30. Check out her website to enter the giveaway and see some of the great things they have to offer.


AAAANNNDDD!

Don't forget to enter my picnic pack giveaway!

The giveaway ends July 31st!

Hope you all have a wonderful Thursday!

Picnic Pack Giveaway

It's giveaway time again!!

For our 200th post we're giving away a picnic backpack,
that Jon picked out for you lovely bloggers!

Those of you who have been reading for a while know our love for hiking, picnicking and drinking wine. Well this picnic pack, which is a sling pack, works perfectly for all three.

Click on the pictures for a closer look.


One lucky winner will choose between these four colors:
Mint Chip, Yellow, Royal Blue or Red.

The picnic pack includes:

2 acrylic glasses
2 melamine plates
2 cotton napkins
2 sets of stainless steel spoons, knives and forks
1 fully function cork screw/bottle opener/knife

It also has a foil insulated food compartment
and mesh side panels to store other things.

Here's how to enter our giveaway:

1 entry: post a comment letting us know you'd like the pack.

2 entries: Become a follower and leave a comment and if you're already a follower let us know.

3 entries: Post about this giveaway on your blog and let us know you did so.

and for an extra 2 entries: Tell us your favorite picnic foods!

That is a total of 5 entries.

This giveaway will be ending on Friday, July 31.
1o days from now!

Good luck ;)

1895 Eight Grade Education

Jon's mom sends us a newspaper from their town (McLoud, Oklahoma) every week. It is called "The Weekly Gazette." This week Jon was skimming through the pages and came across an article that read:

"An 8th Grade Education in 1895." It states: "Remember when grandparents and great grandparents stated that they only had an 8th grade education? Well, check this out. Could any of us have passed the 8th grade in 1895?"

Here are some of the questions from the test found at a Genealogical Society and Library in Salina.

Grammar:

1. Name the parts of speech and define those that have no modifications.

2. What are the principal parts of a verb? Give principal parts of lie, play and run.

Arithmetic:

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.

2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide. How many bushels of wheat will it hold?

3. If a load of wheat weighs 3,942 pounds, what is it work at 50cts/bushel, deducting 1,050 pounds for containers?

4. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance of which is 640 rods?

U.S. History:

1. give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.

2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.

3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.

4. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607, 1620, 1800, 1849, 1865.

Orthography:

1. What is meant by the following: alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication.

2. What are the following, and give examples of each: trigraph, subvocals, diphthong, cognate letters, linguals.

3. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign that indicates the sound: card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last.

Geography:

1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?

2. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S. Name all of the republics of Europe and give the capital of each.

3. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?

Aren't these questions incredible???

In the newspaper it states: "Gives the saying "He only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning, doesn't it?"

I thought you would all find this article very interesting! I couldn't believe some of these questions. There is no way I would have passed the 8th grade in 1895!

And now onto a giveaway:

Check out Kebi's Sanuk giveaway over at Hanging by a Thread!
These sound fabulous! So stop by and enter!

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Giveaways and an Award

First: Click on these pictures to
Check out these great giveaways!

The Reality of Happily Ever After is
doing an awesome Summer Giveaway:
And check out Blog Goggles for this
killer Messenger Bag Giveaway:

Next:

I was given the Honest Scrap award

from J.J. at I'd Rather Be Laughing.
and d.a.r. at Just Another Day in Paradise.
Thanks so much guys.

The rules are:
1. List 10 honest things about yourself that your
blogging friends do not know about you.

2. Give the award away to 7 bloggers.

3. Let them know they've received the award.

So here goes nothin':

1. I have never in my life driven a stick shift/6 speed. I am terrified to drive one, knowing I'd stall in the middle of a busy street and not know what to do.

2. I get super excited when all of the pickles in the pickle jar are gone so that I can drink the remaining juice! Yummm. My SIL and BIL own a sno cone business in Norman. They used to have a pickle juice sno cone if I can remember. My favorite. If you're ever in Norman you seriously have to grab one or ten of their sno cones. They're the BEST you'll ever eat. And not just the pickle, they have a GAGILLION flavors. You won't regret stopping by!

3. My grandfather has been missing for 30 years, (since '79.) He was a pilot and his last radio contact was over Mexico. We secretly think he worked for the mob and is now in witness protection!! He, his wife, and their best bud were all on the plane together. Neither they, nor their plane we ever found. Interesting.......

4. I always leave a little liquid in every drink and usually leave cups scattered throughout the house. (Think of the little girl in Signs) It drives my husband insane.

5. I was a gymnast for 12 years, competed and worked hard to be in an upper level. But doctors recommended I quit because of an arm injury. Boooo!

6. I'm a candy-holic. You'll normally find me with gummy bears in hand. I come by it honestly, my mother is a huge candy-holic. She hides her candy so no one else can have any!!

7. I have an OCD with time. I never take off my watch and I never wear fancy watches for that reason. I need a watch that can live through anything. Timex has been my watch savior.

8. I have trouble differentiating color. I failed the color vision test at the eye doctor. It was very embarrasing when Jon and I started dating and we would go shopping together. I always had to ask him what color something was.

9. I REALLY don't like my food to touch. When I was a kid my mom bought me my own special plates, like cafeteria style with little invidual slots, because I was a freak about my food touching. Still am.

10. I CANNOT stand being late. I have always been extremely punctual. Maybe it stems from my OCD with time, but it stresses me out to even think about being late. I'm weird.

I'm passing this award along to some of my newer followers to learn a little about ya!!

In no particular order:

Mrs. G.I. Joe
Little Woman, Little Home
Chapters Of Our Lives
If You Think Round Is Funny
The Mathis'
The Adventures of Katie and Josh
Jane

Hope you all have a great Tuesday!

A Couple of Things....

First.....

My real life friend Sarah is doing a giveaway on her blog! Check it out, she has some super cute stuff. The awesome thing about her giveaway is you get to choose the perfect gift for you from a list of items and have it monogrammed! How cool is that?? So head over to her blog and enter her giveaway!!

Second.....

I was tagged from another wonderful friend Jenny.Lee. Thank you Jenny, this made my day!

Here are the rules: These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbon of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

I am giving this award to:

Learning to be a Wife
Mrs. G.I. Joe
Living Our Own Fairytail
Windowboxes and Weissbier
Mr. and Mrs. in Training
Lesley
Just Another Day in Paradise
French Kiss

And I award everyone else, because really I have made so many wonderful friends through the blogging world! What a great blogging world it is ;)

Third........

I was looking back at our pictures from Ireland and came to the conclusion that I must have a thing for doors. What do you think?

No wonder Jon kept asking me why I was taking another picture of a door. I have 20 pictures of just doors!! Oh well I just love them and the fact that they are painted so bright and colorful in Dublin. I had to take pictures of them!

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday! Thank goodness the weekend is finally here!

Giveaway

First off I wanted to say THANKS so much for all of your advice about the hub's sleeping prob! You all gave me so many great suggestions and I think Jon is hip to the idea of taking Melatonin. SO we will be buying some today. You guys are so awesome, I really appreciate your help, thanks again!

Second
Don't forget TODAY is the last day to enter my giveaways! I will be drawing tomorrow for the winners. YAY!

Third
My dad sent me this video the other day in an email.

Don't try this at home

Seriously what was this guy thinking??

Have a great weekend everyone!

Yippie For Care Packages!

I received a package yesterday from a wonderful friend who means so much to me, Valerie.

She sent me a wonderful book called The Prayer of Jesus For You. It's 30 days, 30 ways closer to God.

I had asked her about a week or two ago for her ideas on a good study bible. And she was so kind to give me several suggestions and surprised me with this wonderful package. I am so glad to have a book like this!

Valerie is Brian's mother and Brian is our best friend back in Oklahoma. We miss him dearly. But I am so thankful we have been able to keep in touch with both of them. We love them both so much.

She also sent me a plaque. It reads.... "Many People Will Walk In and Out of Your Life But Only True Friends Will Leave Footprints in Your Heart."

I found the perfect spot for it on my entry way side table! I absolutely love it!

Thanks so much Val, you don't know how much this meant to me. It made my entire day! Well, actually my entire week. You are truly a wonderful friend!

Not only did I receive that package from Valerie, but my mom sent me a package for Valentines Day as well. She sent me a bunch of coffee from my step dad's business.

She sent some much needed face wash and face lotion and some more hair product for the hubs. She also sent this cute little milk and sugar set that is perfect for our kitchen and adds some much needed color!

Isn't it adorable?!

THANKS SO MUCH MOM!!!! I love all of the care packages you send. It means so much to Jon and I to receive something from you and a little something from the States!
We love you.

Jon and I are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family!
AND BOY DO WE LOVE CARE PACKAGES!!!

Just a reminder!
Don't forget to enter my giveaways!!

Click the pictures to enter!

The giveaway ends March 1st!!

Have a great Wednesday everyone!